The Opelousas courier., 1887-08-06
SCRAPS.

"Nr
lcnsity of the atmosphere. which is in
duced by the continual evuIsion of steam
and smoke, DR.. Andres estimates that
the danger from lightning is from three
to five times greater than it was fifty
years ago.
Recent delicate SC cntific experiments,
says a writer on earthquakes, have dis
covered the fact that the surface Of the
land is never absolutely at rest for more
than thirty hours at q time. Thus those
great earthquakes which make cpochs in
history arc merely extreme manifestations
of forces that rarely sleep.
The following of paper, according to
Prof. Wiesner, is due to an oxidation de-
tcrmincd by light, especially by the more
| ~refrangibIe rays. 1t is greater in wood
than IN rag papers, and in moist than in
dry air. The electric light, rich in the
more refrangible rays, has a greater dis
coloring effect in libraries than gas.
The Fall RIVER Mass mills have a
new device for stopping the engines in
any part of the mill. An electric wire
runs from the engine to each room in
the mill. There is a box in each room
from which, by the simple turning of Il
key, the engine may be Immediately
-o ,& oo,{,,ron
A less restricted diet in athletic train.
ing is being favored in England, and, in
stead Of tho large proportion of meat
formerly rigidly insisted on, physiolo-
gists now consider q variety of food es-
scntial to the best results. The Cam
bridge boat crew, in training for the race
with Oxford, were this year permitted TO
eat fish, buildings and dessert, though
still forbidden sugar with pastry.
How much influence do fish exert on
eace other2 W. A. Carter, in speaking
recently on "Marine AMI Fresh Water
Fishes" mentions u shoal of carp follow
ing a single one acting as a leader, which
conducted them a long distance to a con-
siderable amount of food. Trout somc-
times seem to follow a leader which
swims along at the head of a tribe. Both
fresh water and saltwater fish appear
to show the same characteristic. Herring
and bass have frequently been observe !
following an apparently-choscn leader.
It is a fact worth noting that no
comet, 50 far as is known, has ever come
in contact with the earth, or mingled its
substance with the carth's atmosphere.
The nearest approach ever observed was
L'xel!'s comet of 1910, which approached
to within 1, 400, 900 miles of the earth,
and subtcnded an angle of 2 deg. %
minutes, the largest apparent diameter
yet observed in any comet. 1t has not
been seen since 177O, though an orbit was
computed for it of only five aud a half
years, and astronomers are of the opinion
that perturbation by Jupiter may have
changed its orbit to one of long period.
In the village of Meyrin, in the canton
of Geneva, Switzerland, some disuscd
wells, it is said, have been Theoretically
sealed and devoted to the novel purpose
serving as barometers TO the people.
In this arrangement an orifice of about
one inch in diameter is made in the
of the we'll, by means of which the
internal air is put in communication with
the external. When the mir pressure
outside diminishcs on the approach of a
storm, the air in the we'll escapes and
blows a whistle in connection with the
and in this simple way notice Of
storms approach is duly given to the
inhabitants. But if, on the contrary,
the pressure increases, a sound of O diff
ferent and we'll understood character is
produced by the entry of the air into the
we'll, and the probability of fine weather
announced.